Welcome to DBSTalk

Welcome to DBSTalk. Our community covers all aspects of video delivery solutions including: Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), Cable Television, and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). We also have forums to discuss popular television programs, home theater equipment, and internet streaming service providers. Members of our community include experts who can help you solve technical problems, industry professionals, company representatives, and novices who are here to learn.

Like most online communities you must register to view or post in our community. Sign-up is a free and simple process that requires minimal information. Be a part of our community by signing in or creating an account. The Digital Bit Stream starts here!

NOPE its better then that ! Remember the movie LOOKER with Susan Dey ! Everyone is CG in the Amazing race on a Green screen LOL

King Cable Cutter ! XBMC , PLEX , Raspberry Pi Love my New Boxes

Avatars are to protect the Ugly people from scaring others !
Come from the land of Pennsylvania where Cable TV was invented ! Had HBO back in the 70's and total cable bill was $ 12.00 and all TV's got Cable with no extra fee ! Been using satellite since the C-Band Days and Dave and Charlie

I quit watching Survivorman regularly because of the toll it was taking on my body!

I had my suspicions back when my wife watched "The Osbournes" she get so excited how cool it was to watch a real hollywood family as how they live ! I kept saying B.S untill the last season as i watched the last episode with her ! at the end of the show they said stay tuned for the bloopers I stood up and said I told you so ! LOL and never believed any crap on TV

King Cable Cutter ! XBMC , PLEX , Raspberry Pi Love my New Boxes

Avatars are to protect the Ugly people from scaring others !
Come from the land of Pennsylvania where Cable TV was invented ! Had HBO back in the 70's and total cable bill was $ 12.00 and all TV's got Cable with no extra fee ! Been using satellite since the C-Band Days and Dave and Charlie

I do like seeing the appraisals, but makes you wonder if ther is collusion before the price is announced ! Why wouldnt Rick tell his so called " I Have a Friend let me call him" !!!And in Hardcore pawn it is soooo staged its sickening ! Back when it first aired was alot better. I remember one episode how Ashly defended her self as having a college degree in gemology then a year later a poor girl who's grandmother passed away and she had to pay for it came in with Grandma's bag of precious stones. Ashly looks at them calls them Glass ! and sends her away ! Yep she's a pro LOL Then her rip off scumbag father says wait let me look he wants a professional to look at this one ruby ! As the Appraisal is being announced they cut out his price ! The next scene is LES says to the girl iam so happy to give you $ 10,000.00 dollars for this burmese ruby !!!!!!!!!!! Really makes you wonder was it staged or did we just witnessed a crime ! for a $ 100,000.00 stone !!

One spin off of Pawn Stars I wouldn't mind is one other Mark, the life of a museum administrator. Something tells me though that if it really was his day to day job, the ratings would not be high enough.

It's TV, It's Entertainment...There are shows that I expect to be real, and not scripted... DateLine, 20/20, 48hours....

Then there are shows that I don't care if they are scripted or not, aka: everythign else.

Well truthfully I thought Reality shows were just that, almost a documentary style of entertainment. Where fools in real life were captured with camera's because they are unique to our society, and not being scripted. I have a lot of shows I will now be cancelling.

By definition, reality TV is essentially unscripted programming that doesn't employ actors and focuses on footage of real events or situations. Reality shows also often use a host to run the show or a narrator to tell the story or set the stage of events that are about to unfold. Unlike scripted shows like sitcoms, dramas and newscasts, reality TV does not rely on writers and actors, and much of the show is run by producers and a team of editors. Because of this, it can be a very affordable programming option from a production standpoint -- and it's why networks are scrambling to add reality content in the wake of the Writers Guild of America strike.

When either Chumlee or Corey start speaking authoritatively about anything other than what they had for lunch that day, you can rest assured that it's not only staged, but also well-rehearsed (probably many, many times).

"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force." - Ayn Rand

That was the original premise of Reality TV, which largely grew out of COPS (which is heavily edited, but still the closest thing to a true reality show), but it didn't take long for production companies to realize that if they could actively participate and increase the level of drama, as well as RELIABLY create drama on a schedule rather than waiting and hoping something interesting happens, then their show would be worth more. Most of these reality shows have a team of writers, producers, and production assistants who manufacture a lot of the drama and do so on a schedule. This creates a "sure thing" that makes networks feel much more comfortable about their ability to sell advertising (and advertisers more comfortable about buying it).

Also, understand that a large percentage of the people in reality shows, especially prime-time shows, are ACTORS (up-and-coming, unknown actors) who sign up for every reality show that comes down the road. Same with cooking shows: there is a pool of "wanna-be celebrity chefs" who try out for all the cooking shows, and a number of them have been in different shows. The media likes to pretend these are all just random people off the street, but that's almost never the case.

The ONLY safe assumption you can ever make about ANY media is that it has been manipulated by the producers in some way. Maybe it's just to increase the entertainment value or the quality, and maybe it's for a more sinister purpose, but NONE of them are simply a camera that's set up and left rolling, with unedited footage being aired. Remember that.

That was the original premise of Reality TV, which largely grew out of COPS (which is heavily edited, but still the closest thing to a true reality show), but it didn't take long for production companies to realize that if they could actively participate and increase the level of drama, as well as RELIABLY create drama on a schedule rather than waiting and hoping something interesting happens, then their show would be worth more. Most of these reality shows have a team of writers, producers, and production assistants who manufacture a lot of the drama and do so on a schedule. This creates a "sure thing" that makes networks feel much more comfortable about their ability to sell advertising (and advertisers more comfortable about buying it).

Also, understand that a large percentage of the people in reality shows, especially prime-time shows, are ACTORS (up-and-coming, unknown actors) who sign up for every reality show that comes down the road. Same with cooking shows: there is a pool of "wanna-be celebrity chefs" who try out for all the cooking shows, and a number of them have been in different shows. The media likes to pretend these are all just random people off the street, but that's almost never the case.

The ONLY safe assumption you can ever make about ANY media is that it has been manipulated by the producers in some way. Maybe it's just to increase the entertainment value or the quality, and maybe it's for a more sinister purpose, but NONE of them are simply a camera that's set up and left rolling, with unedited footage being aired. Remember that.

I guess I better catch up with the times Thanks for your great description on the new Reality TV BTW. I feel jilted by what the Discovery and History channels have become. I no longer have a sense of trust with anything these 2 channels put on. Any specials they do "for example" Wooly Mammoths is most likely made up drivel.

I was just thinking again about this thread, as I was watching a Piano Guys video. Even if reality shows are faked, at what point do we really care? In this case, I know that the Piano Guys videos are to some extent, faked. It's just in the nature, the audio track has to be recorded separately (though they may actually be playing), you just can't get good audio recording in many areas. But, I don't care, it's entertaining. Would it make any difference in these shows if they had a disclaimer? If they are entertaining or a bit educational if it's all real, how much of that goes away if it isn't completely real?

Any examples you can think of, other than some at the beginning when they leave him, or the episode with Bob Wilson?

There was an episode in Alaska which comes to mind where Les had a camera mounted on his kayak. Occasionally, Les would move and you could see the person standing on the shore.There was a another episode (can not remember where he was but something says maybe Georgia swamp) where the cameraman stumbles.